Week in Review: Community Forward

East Hampton Passes OLA Safety Law, A New Jewish Congregation, Students on Nature, Walk to End Alzheimer's

Author

Beth Young
May 17, 2026

On the Forks

East Hampton Town Passes OLA Public Safety Law

OLA of Eastern Long Island is celebrating the East Hampton Town Board’s passage Tuesday of a Public Safety and Accountability Law, making the town the second East End municipality to adopt the legislation, following East Hampton Village’s lead.

Out of the Classroom

Bringing a Love for Nature Alive

It’s easy to notice kids who may some day become scientists. They may stare, fascinated for hours, at ants following pheromone trails through the backyard, hide flinty rocks in the crevices of their homes and embark on experiments with the most basic of household equipment, cooking up fake food for wolves with your pots and pans.

But kids with this innate curiosity often lose sight of what originally drew them to science after a few years in a college classroom memorizing physics formulas or the periodic table of elements.

This semester at the Stony Brook Southampton campus, 13 students, mostly in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) Semester By the Sea program, have had a chance to reconnect with why they love the natural world, and how to share that love with the people around them.

Congress 2026

Chris Gallant on Service to This Country

Christopher Gallant, a 36-year-old air traffic controller, Black Hawk helicopter pilot and volunteer firefighter with the Copaigue Fire Department, hadn’t planned on a career in politics.

But after President Donald Trump took office last year, Mr. Gallant, who lives in Amity Harbor, said he was shocked to see Congress do nothing as the new president made “executive order after executive order that was completely unconstitutional.”

“It went against everything I thought for. I couldn’t sit around anymore and literally watch Congress not do their job,” he said.

Finding Love on the High Seas

NFCT’s Heartfelt Take on “Anything Goes”

The North Fork Community Theatre in Mattituck set sail Thursday on a three-week voyage to the heart of love, loss, dance and nostalgia conjured in an immersive new production of Cole Porter’s classic musical “Anything Goes.”

This smart madcap musical comedy aboard a cruise ship in the 1930s is a perfect opportunity to create an immersive experience, says director Dina Mondello, whose own production company, The Rabbit Hole, specializes in innovative ways of pushing on the fourth wall between actors and the audience.

On the North Fork

A New Jewish Congregation Forms Out of Ashes of Controversy

A new Jewish congregation is taking root on the North Fork this month, helmed by Rabbi Gadi Capela, the rabbi for the past 13 years of Congregation Tifereth Israel in Greenport.

Environment

Celebrating the Beauty of Aquebogue’s Broad Cove Preserve

Along the edge of Flanders Bay in Aquebogue is a 100-acre swath of woodlands and meadows that was once a duck farm and had been slated half a decade ago to become a luxury condominium complex.

North Fork

John May Mile Celebrates 20 Years with Record Donation to GFD

This was a banner year for Peconic Landing’s annual John May Mile and 5K fundraiser, which donated a record $30,250 to the Greenport Fire Department May 9.

It’s the 20th year of this intergenerational event celebrating Older Americans Month at the North Fork’s Continuing Care Retirement Community, where 138 runners from the ages of eight to 91 competed in the 5K and 52 people of all ages took part in the shorter, one mile walk.

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Peconic Dish

A Sformato of This Season

by Alison Boyd-Savage

Sformato, a delectable savory custard popular in Italy, is an ideal appetizer or light lunch. It’s also the perfect showcase for local produce. Vibrant green spinach has the depth of flavor to really pack a punch. You can repeat this dish throughout the summer with whatever is in season, and once you have mastered a simple béchamel you are ready to go. Think fresh peas and leeks or corn and tomato. We love an asparagus sformato this time of year as well, and featured that recipe back in 2018. The possibilities are endless! 

Community

North Fork Walk to End Alzheimer’s Hopes to Break Records This October

The Alzheimer’s Association is kicking off fundraising efforts for its fourth annual North Fork Walk to End Alzheimer’s at Peconic Landing in Greenport Oct. 3, with the hopes of beating its record-setting 2025 total of $123,000.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, May 21

CCA On North Fork Water

USGS Hydrologist Fred Strumm, environmentalist Mark Haubner and Southold Town Water Quality Advisory Committee member and hydrogeologist Caroline Yates will discuss the shrinking aquifer and the future of our fresh water.

May 21-June 7

“The 39 Steps” at Hampton Theatre Company

This breakneck-paced tour-de-farce mixes the thrills of an iconic Hitchcock murder mystery with the spills of an irreverent Monty Python spoof.

Saturday, May 23

EMCA on Southold In The American Revolution

Everyone knows how American patriots fought the British and won the American Revolution. But do you know what happened in Southold during the war? Join Southold Town Historian Amy Folk to find out.

Hot Off the Press

Our May print edition is on newsstands throughout the East End
All words in and on The Beacon are always generated by human beings. Guaranteed.

Words

“Something in the field has mastered distance by living too close to fences…”

— Jennifer Chang, “Pastoral”

Pastoral

Something in the field is working away. Something in the field has mastered distance by living too close to fences. Yellow fruit, has it pit or seeds?…

The Poetry Foundation

See you next Sunday,

Beth